Student view: Learning, growing and leading at the MSU Museum
Rachel Lewis is a CoLaborator at the MSU Museum and a fourth-year student majoring in art history and journalism, with a concentration in photo journalism. The CoLaborator program empowers graduate and undergraduate students to shape the MSU Museum’s exhibitions and facilitate visitor engagement.
Working at the Michigan State University Museum has been one of my favorite parts of my college experience. I often think back to how lucky I was to find the application on Handshake three years ago. At the time, I assumed that working in a museum would consist of standing in the gallery space and telling people to not touch the art, but I quickly learned the MSU Museum was a special place. The CoLab Studio at the MSU Museum functions as an interactive learning space and I, the CoLaborator, was who the visitors would be interacting with. The studio consists of around 10 different art pieces, all relating to a common theme that is relevant to current-day issues.
While working at the museum, I have participated in exhibitions featuring climate change, food systems and artificial intelligence. My job is to engage the visitors with the exhibit, not as a tour guide or docent, but as a person to bounce ideas off of. This involves asking questions that often lead to deep conversations about larger societal issues. The fun part is that no two conversations are the same. During my first year working at the “Food Fight!” exhibition, I interacted with people who came from all different backgrounds, from 5-year-old children on a school field trip to professors who were experts in our exhibit themes.
When I heard the museum would be closing for renovations after my first year working there, I was disappointed to learn the job I had come to love would be changing. For the past year and a half, the museum has had a pop-up location in the MSU Federal Credit Union building downtown. While my role as a CoLaborator changed slightly, the opportunities for learning and expanding my career path grew. Two of the exhibits featured in our pop-up space were collaborations with the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and MSUFCU-sponsored artist in residency programs. Suddenly, I was going from talking about food systems to having to explain nuclear physics. It was intimidating at first but, through many group discussions and research sessions, I got to see firsthand how connected the arts and sciences truly are.
One of my favorite exhibits we had in our pop-up location was “Techno: The Rise of Detroit’s Machine Music.” This exhibit was exciting because of the passion behind it. Working with a sound installation on a project that was local and personal to people in Michigan highlighted the importance of museum spaces, both for education and representation.
Some of my best conversations about these exhibits came not from my visitors, but from the people I worked with. I came to appreciate the smaller exhibit space during the time of renovations. The time sitting at the welcome desk often flew by because it was easy to become engrossed in deep conversations with my bosses and coworkers. I have learned to strongly value these relationships. Having a safe space on campus where I know people care about me and value my opinion has allowed me to flourish in both my personal and professional life. The staff at the MSU Museum trust me to be creative and try new things, and this has led to so much personal growth.
As I look forward to starting my last semester at MSU, I can’t wait to move back into the museum building. Not only am I excited for the next CoLab exhibit, “Blurred Realities,” which is all about artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation, but I also look forward to seeing how my role at the museum will evolve. With a new cohort of CoLaborators, I have now begun to take on more leadership. I remember those early days of the “Food Fight” exhibit, being afraid to start conversations with strangers and intimidated by the exhibit themes. Now, with the confidence I have built through the museum over the past two and a half years, I am ready to help the next generation of CoLaborators grow in the same ways I did.